F.A.Q

National Rules THE AUSTRALIAN SCRABBLE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION (ASPA) RULES OF TOURNAMENT PLAY Valid from January 1, 2007 The following rules are those which apply for the National Championships, as resolved by the Council of the Australian Scrabble Players Associations. These rules are used at all tournaments of the Australian Scrabble Players Association. The rules may be varied for particular tournaments, but any variations must be announced in advance so that they may be known by players before registering for the tournament, except in the case of an emergency. All decisions of the Tournament Director (TD) on disputes or clarification of rules are final. Where these rules vary from those published from time to time in Scrabble sets by copyright holders, the ASPA Rules of Tournament Play will apply. STARTING THE GAME 1.1 It is the responsibility of both players to determine before commencing play that there are 100 correct tiles. There can be no appeal if an incorrect number or incorrect distribution is discovered later. 1.2 The pre-tournament information should specify how the first player in each game will be decided. This may be by drawing tiles, use of a computer program, use of a "balanced start" record card, or another method as determined by the tournament organiser. 1.3 Balanced starts: either a computer program or a record card of starts is used to determine who shall start each game, with the objective being for players to have roughly the same number of starts. This system is referred to as "balanced starts". When a record card is used, the player who has had fewer starts plays first. If both players have had an equal number of starts, tiles are drawn (see 1.4) to see who plays first. 1.4 Drawing tiles: for each game, each player draws a tile from the bag placing it face up in full view. The player with the letter closest to the start of the alphabet goes first. A blank is considered to come before an "A". If both tiles are the same, the players will each draw again until there is a decision. The player who is to go second returns the tiles to the bag and shuffles the bag, ready for the game to begin. No tiles shall be returned to the bag until a decision is reached. 1.5 When the first player has taken a tile out of the bag, the time clock may be started. TIME 2.1 If at least one player wants to use a time clock, it must be used, subject to availability and the agreement of the TD. 2.2 The time allotted is to be equally divided between the two players. You may ask for a time clock before play commences or during the game. In the latter case, the time remaining will be equally divided. The time allotted for games played in the Australian National Championships has been set by CASPA at 25 minutes per player. 2.3 If a player is not there on time, the Tournament Director may start that person's clock. If two players are absent from a board, the TD will start one clock. When the first player arrives, each player has half the elapsed time deducted, and the second player